Validation of multiprocessor hardware component

ABSTRACT

A method, apparatus and computer program product to be employed by a hardware component under validation, wherein the hardware component having a plurality of processing units each belonging to one of at least two types, such that one of the at least two types of processing units is less error-prone then a remainder of the at least two types. The method comprising: designating one of the processing units of the hardware component under validation that belongs to the less error-prone type as a manager processing unit; initiating execution of a tester program code for testing processing units, by processing units of the hardware component other than the manager processing unit; and, monitoring by the manager processing unit the status of the processing units during execution of the tester program code.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to hardware validation in general, and tovalidation of multiprocessor hardware components, in particular.

BACKGROUND

Computerized devices control almost every aspect of our life—fromwriting documents to controlling traffic lights. However, computerizeddevices are bug-prone, and thus require a testing phase in which thebugs should be discovered. The testing phase is considered one of themost difficult tasks in designing a computerized device. The cost of notdiscovering a bug may be enormous, as the consequences of the bug may bedisastrous. For example, a bug may cause the injury of a person relyingon the designated behavior of the computerized device. Additionally, abug in hardware or firmware may be expensive to fix, as patching itrequires call-back of the computerized device. Hence, many developers ofcomputerized devices invest a substantial portion of the developmentcycle to discover erroneous behaviors of the computerized device.

During testing phase, developers, QA staff members, and the like test anewly developed hardware design to verify that it operates properly. Insome cases, test cases (also referred to simply as “tests”) may bedevised to provide stimuli to the component, and enable testing whetherits operation is correct (e.g., as expected).

In recent years, multiprocessing architectures wherein two or moreprocessors, often referred to as “cores”, are being employed inconcurrent individual execution of instruction sets within a commoncomputing environment, optionally sharing system resources, have becomeubiquitous among many computing devices and platforms, whether onenterprise level or within mobile and embedded systems.

As can be readily understood, each additional processor effectivelyraises the number of calculation operations that can be performedsimultaneously, thereby allowing for improved functionality such as forexample increased efficiency and speed through parallel computing, oralternatively supporting fail-safe mechanism by exploiting redundantprocessors for backup purposes.

However, with the growing hardware intricacy, the task of testing a newdesign once fabricated has become an even more challenging endeavor.Typically, the validation phase entails repeated execution of resourceintensive program instructions, utilizing the entire designfunctionality, for extended periods of time. Such procedure is commonlyknown as “stress test”, since it explores system performance underextreme conditions. In the context of multiprocessing, a multi-processor multi-threaded stress test program is run on all processors of thehardware design undergoing validation.

BRIEF SUMMARY

One exemplary embodiment of the disclosed subject matter is a methodperformed by a hardware component to be validated, wherein the hardwarecomponent having a plurality of processing units each belonging to oneof at least two types, such that one of the at least two types ofprocessing units is less error-prone then a remainder of the at leasttwo types, the method comprising: designating one of the processingunits of the hardware component under validation that belongs to theless error-prone type as a manager processing unit; initiating executionof a tester program code for testing processing units, by processingunits of the hardware component other than the manager processing unit;and, monitoring by the manager processing unit the status of theprocessing units during execution of the tester program code.

Another exemplary embodiment of the disclosed subject matter is anapparatus incorporated within a hardware component to be validated,wherein the hardware component having a plurality of processing unitseach belonging to one of at least two types, such that one of the atleast two types of processing units is less error-prone then a remainderof the at least two types, the apparatus comprising: a designationcomponent for designating one of the processing units of the hardwarecomponent under validation that belongs to the less error-prone type asa manager processing unit; a test starter component for initiatingexecution of a tester program code for testing processing units, byprocessing units of the hardware component other than the managerprocessing unit; and, a monitoring component for monitoring by themanager processing unit the status of the processing units duringexecution of the tester program code.

Yet another exemplary embodiment of the disclosed subject matter is acomputer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readablestorage medium retaining program instructions for execution by ahardware component to be validated, wherein the hardware componenthaving a plurality of processing units each belonging to one of at leasttwo types, such that one of the at least two types of processing unitsis less error-prone then a remainder of the at least two types, theproduct comprising: a first section of program instructions fordesignating one of the processing units of the hardware component undervalidation that belongs to the less error-prone type as a managerprocessing unit; a second section of program instructions for initiatingexecution of a tester program code for testing processing units, byprocessing units of the hardware component other than the managerprocessing unit; and, a third section of program instructions formonitoring by the manager processing unit the status of the processingunits during execution of the tester program code.

THE BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosed subject matter will be understood and appreciatedmore fully from the following detailed description taken in conjunctionwith the drawings in which corresponding or like numerals or charactersindicate corresponding or like components. Unless indicated otherwise,the drawings provide exemplary embodiments or aspects of the disclosureand do not limit the scope of the disclosure. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic illustration of a heterogeneous multiprocessorhardware component in which the disclosed subject matter is used, inaccordance with some exemplary embodiments of the subject matter;

FIG. 2 shows a flowchart diagram of a method for testing a hardwaredesign, in accordance with some exemplary embodiments of the disclosedsubject matter; and

FIG. 3 shows a flowchart diagram of a method for hardware designvalidation management, in accordance with some exemplary embodiments ofthe disclosed subject matter.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In order for the stress test to be effective, there is a need to enableimmediate detection of errors or other abnormal events upon occurrence,as well as the recordation, colloquially termed “dumping”, of anypertaining data of the system and program state at the time considerednecessary for coming up with a fix to the problem. Accordingly, theprogress of the stress test program on each processor that it runs onhas to be closely monitored. Moreover, the overall success of thevalidation process is dependent upon all operations of systeminitialization, program monitoring and dumping of data in case of afailure, are being performed reliably and accurately.

In some systems, this problem may be solved by having an auxiliaryprocessor of a simpler and more mature design, thereby guaranteeing itsreliability, which is able to initialize the system, monitor the statusof the stress test program execution, and dump the vital debug data. Theauxiliary processor may be separate from the Design Under Test (DUT)itself and not be under validation. The auxiliary processor may be aprocessor that is designed to provide auxiliary services to the DUT,such as but not limited to diagnostics, run-time error detection andcorrection, or the like. However, some systems do not have a dedicatedexternal processor with the required system management capabilities.Such a processor may also consume on-chip resources and may thereforenot be desired. Moreover, the auxiliary processor might not be able toaccess memory or caches of the DUT. As an example, if Package-on-Package(PoP) is used, wherein two or more hardware component packages arestacked atop of each other, e.g. memory and logic packages. In PoP,connections between the processor and the main memory may not be exposedto the auxiliary processor. In some cases, cache coherency is notsupported between the DUT and the auxiliary processor and therefore theauxiliary processor may not necessarily view a correct state of thecache. In addition, an auxiliary processor may not use the sameinstruction set as the DUT, which may complicate programming andhandling testing functions.

A recently suggested heterogeneous system architecture called“big/LITTLE” includes two types of processors, being functionallyidentical yet differing in complexity and optionally in maturity. Onetype, called “big”, is of powerful processors that have a more complexdesign. In some cases, the “big” processor may be a newer version of theother type of processors. Another type, called “LITTLE”, is of simplerand less powerful cores, for example a remap of older design to a newtechnology. Specifically, “big/LITTLE” systems currently on the marketdo not have an auxiliary processor to be entrusted with the role ofmanaging the system validation process.

One technical problem dealt with by the disclosed subject matter is toaccommodate for a relatively reliable and accurate performance ofinitialization, run-time monitoring and debug data dumping duringvalidation of a fabricated multiprocessor hardware design(“post-silicon”), wherein no dedicated external processor for thateffect is present.

Another technical problem is the assignment of management tasks,including inter alia initializing, monitoring and, upon failure, dumpingthe debug data, during validation of a physical instance of a hardwaredesign having a heterogeneous system architecture, with at least twotypes of processors such that one type is considered more reliable thanthe other.

One technical solution is to assign the manager role to a processingunit of the design under validation, also referred to as “core”interchangeably throughout the present disclosure, which is of the morereliable type, and performing stress testing routines on a remainder ofthe cores of the DUT.

Optionally, the identity of the manager core may be fixed orpredetermined before run-time, i.e. before loading of the stress testprogram onto the DUT. Alternatively, the manager core may be assigneddynamically during run-time, for example, by using a voting scheme amongrelevant candidates.

Upon loading a stress test program to the system, a manager core isassigned. Once assigned, the manager core initializes the differentcomponents required for the operation of the system, and thereaftersignals the other cores that they may begin operation, namely theexecution of a stress test program. The manager core tracks the progressand health of the other cores at run-time. When a problem is detected,the manager core dumps the required debug data, for example, via aUniversal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter (UART) interface.

In some exemplary embodiments, once a problem has been detected, themanager core stops execution of the stress test program on the othercores prior to dumping the debug data.

In some further exemplary embodiments, the manager core is the solecomponent interacting with external environments, for example, to reportprogress and dump debug data when needed. By blocking other cores frominteracting with the external environment, their functionality may besimplified and they may operate with a relatively thin software layerproviding Operating System (OS)-like services. As a result, there may bea lower probability that complicated software would invoke an erroneousfunctionality in the DUT while performing managerial roles such asinteracting with external environment and reporting on detected bugs.

One technical effect of utilizing the disclosed subject matter is toprovide a manager core that is less likely to be affected by designflaws. It will be appreciated that a bug in the manager core may causedebug data to be corrupted or unavailable, and may therefore waste thescarce resource of the silicon DUT platform that is being tested. Insome cases, the disclosed subject matter may provide relatively highutilization of the platform, by determining that a problem has beenfound soon after it is first detected in one of the cores, so thatexecution of the stress test program may be terminated and, afterdumping of the debugging data, the system may be freed for runningfurther tests.

Referring now to FIG. 1 showing a schematic illustration of aheterogeneous multiprocessor hardware component in which the disclosedsubject matter is employed, in accordance with some exemplaryembodiments of the subject matter.

In some exemplary embodiments, a multiprocessor 100 may comprise aplurality of cores 110, 120, 130, 140, 150, 160, 170 and 180. Themultiprocessor may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a System on aChip (SoC) or the like. The cores 110-180 may be functionally identicaland differ only in hardware complexity or design maturity. For example,cores 110-180 may have different microarchitectures that share a commoninstruction set. Additionally or alternatively, the cores 110-180 mayhave a different physical design, e.g. custom designed vs. non-customdesigned, wherein non-custom design may be automatically synthesizedfrom a digital representation of a design, such as provided in RegisterTransfer Level (RTL), or the like.

In some exemplary embodiments, the cores 110-180 belong to one of twotypes of processors, the first of which is considered less error-pronethan the other. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 1, multiprocessor100 may employ “big \LITTLE” architecture, such that cores 110-140belong to one type, referred to as “big”, of powerful and optionallynewly designed processors, whereas cores 150-180 belong to another type,referred to as “LITTLE”, of a simpler and/or more mature design, thusconsidered as relatively more reliable.

It will be understood however that multiprocessor 100 may comprise anynumber of cores of either type, as well as an unequal number of cores ineach. It will be further understood that multiprocessor 100 may comprisemore than two types of functionally identical processors differing incomplexity and/or maturity.

In some cases, multiprocessor 100 may not comprise an auxiliaryprocessor which provides auxiliary services to the multiprocessor 100.Multiprocessor 100 may comprise only cores that are part of thefunctionality of the multiprocessor 100. Additionally or alternatively,an auxiliary processor may be present but may not be available for useduring stress testing.

Referring now to FIG. 2 showing a flowchart diagram of a method fortesting a hardware design in accordance with some exemplary embodimentsof the disclosed subject matter.

On Step 210, a stress test program may be prepared for a multi-core DUT.The stress test program may be configured to cause a core to repeatedly(1) create a test, (2) execute the test, and (3) check the results ofthe test. The stress test program may be generated off-platform and beloaded to the DUT itself for execution. The stress test program may begenerated for the multi-core DUT using a generation framework.

On Step 220, the stress test program is loaded onto the DUT. The stresstest program may be executed by the DUT. In some exemplary embodiments,the stress test program may spawn processes or threads for eachprocessing unit of the DUT.

On step 230, a processing unit of a multi-core design under test isdesignated as manager of the design validation process, from the portionof cores that are of a more robust type. In some exemplary embodiments,the design under test is a heterogeneous system such as multiprocessor100 depicted in FIG. 1, and the manager core assigned is one of the“LITTLE” type cores 150-180, being relatively more fault-resistant than“big” type cores 110-140.

In some exemplary embodiments, the assignment of the manager core isdynamically determined during run-time using a voting mechanism amongrelevant candidates, after completion of initial boot process by thesystem. For example, each “LITTLE” core commences executing the stresstest program. A run-time race may be performed between all such cores sothat the first core to complete its boot process may take the role ofthe manager core. For that purpose, the cores may be able to communicatewith one another. In some exemplary embodiments, the cores may be ableto communicate with one another only after system initialization iscompleted.

Alternatively, the assignment of the manager core may be predeterminedbefore run-time, under two possible scenarios for the preparation of thestress test program, as follows. In the first scenario, the identity ofthe manager core is fixed, by being hardcoded in the generationframework utilized in Step 210, so that each generated stress testprogram is configured to use the same core as the manager core. In thesecond scenario, the identity of the manager core is static, by beingchosen as part of the building process of the stress test program.Accordingly, the identity of the manager core may either be determinedby an automatic builder of stress test programs (e.g., the generationframework), forced through parameters specified by a user during thegeneration of the program, or the like.

On step 240, execution of a stress test program routine, designed toexplore the performance capabilities and proper functioning of aprocessing unit in the DUT, is initiated in cores other than theassigned manager core. In some cases, the cores may commence performingthe stress test only after being notified that the manager core hascompleted its initialization process and is ready to monitor them.Additionally or alternatively, the cores may be configured to wait untila flag is raised by the manager core before commencing the stresstesting.

On step 250, the manager core monitors the status of the other coresduring execution of the stress test program instructions. The monitoringcan be effected, for example, by the manager core keeping track of acounter updated by the other cores to indicate progress, or trackingsystem resources to determine that the other cores are making progress,e.g. by reading test cases of the other cores and checking that they arebeing re-generated from time to time.

As can be readily understood, in order for the manager core to be ableto monitor the progress of the other cores, there may be some basiccommunication mechanism available between the manager core and the othercores, such as a predetermined shared memory location, or common accessto system resources.

It is also further understood that, the monitoring by the manager coreof the progress in execution of the stress test program by the othercores may be required in order to determine if the testing is going onas expected or a problem has been detected. In some exemplaryembodiments, the manager core may monitor an “I am alive” flag handledby each core, wherein upon a detection of a bug, the core may reset theflag. The manager core may detect when to dump debug data based on thevalue of the flag.

Referring now to FIG. 3 showing a flowchart diagram of a method forhardware design validation management in accordance with some exemplaryembodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

On step 310, system initialization takes place. The manager core, onceassigned, completes its boot code execution and thereafter diverges fromthe standard execution flow. While all non-manager cores go to somewait/sleep mode, the manager core turns to initialize the system, forexample, by executing driver-like code which initializes the differentcomponents of the system.

On step 320, after the initialization code is executed, the manager coreturns to signal the other cores, using for example an interrupt, thatthey can exit wait/sleep mode and resume execution.

On step 330, after completing the initialization procedure, the managercore turns to track and monitor the execution of the stress test programon the other cores. In some exemplary embodiments, the manager core doesnot take part in the generation and testing flow that the other coresexecute, to minimize the probability of having the manager core stuckand the debug data lost.

On step 340, once a problem has been detected, the manager coreoptionally stops execution of the stress test program by the othercores. Halting operation of the non-manager cores may be necessary toprevent a bus hang, which would, in turn, prohibit the manager core fromdumping the debug data. This may be accomplished, for example, throughnotification to the non-manager cores that a problem has been found, bymeans of a shared location in memory or an interrupt.

On step 350, the manager core dumps the debugging data out to facilitatean effective debugging process. The dumping action may involve creationor gathering of data documenting the test failure and surroundingcontext into a respective data record, so that it can later be extractedand explored in order to figure out the cause of the bug and, ifapplicable, determine an appropriate solution for it.

The debugging data may include both system-specific data, such as valuesobtained from reading special purpose registers or memory, as well asprogram-specific data. The debugging data may comprise data that isuseful for recreating the bug, understanding the cause of the bug,fixing the bug, or the like.

On step 360, the cores may be reset, so that the DUT may thereafter beready for further testing and the process may be repeated from start(e.g., from either steps 310, 320 or 330).

As can be readily understood, in order for the manager core to be ableto dump the data, the manager core may have some means of communicatingwith the environment, such as a UART connection, as well as the abilityto read relevant debugging data from the other cores. This can be done,for example, by placing the relevant parts of the data, such astest-case, in-memory print buffer and the like, in shared memory inlocations that the manager core could access.

It should be further understood that the cores of the DUT may employShared Memory Architecture (SMA) and may be cache coherent, therebyallowing more qualitative data gathering for debugging purposes, as thememory and caches of the DUT may be accessible by the manager core.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product. The computer program product may include a computerreadable storage medium (or media) having computer readable programinstructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of thepresent invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in anycombination of one or more programming languages, including an objectoriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, andconventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The computerreadable program instructions may execute entirely on the user'scomputer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone softwarepackage, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computeror entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario,the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through anytype of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide areanetwork (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer(for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example,programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), orprogrammable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readableprogram instructions by utilizing state information of the computerreadable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry,in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of theorder noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof.

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of allmeans or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended toinclude any structure, material, or act for performing the function incombination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. Thedescription of the present invention has been presented for purposes ofillustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive orlimited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications andvariations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artwithout departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Theembodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the invention and the practical application, and to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention forvarious embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method performed by a hardware component to bevalidated, wherein the hardware component having a plurality of hardwareprocessing units each belonging to one of at least two types, such thatone of the at least two types of hardware processing units is lesserror-prone than a remainder of the at least two types, the methodcomprising: designating as a manager processing unit one of the hardwareprocessing units of the hardware component under validation that belongsto the less error-prone type, wherein the less error-prone type is of amore mature design and is more reliable than the remainder of the atleast two types; and performing initialization and run-time monitoringof the hardware component in a reliable manner, comprising: initiating,by the manager processing unit, execution of a tester program code fortesting hardware processing units by hardware processing units of thehardware component other than the manager processing unit; andmonitoring, by the manager processing unit, the status of the hardwareprocessing units during execution of the tester program code.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising performing, by the managerprocessing unit, an initialization procedure prior to execution of thetester program code.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein theinitialization procedure by the manager processing unit comprisesinitializing other system components required by the hardware componentundergoing validation during execution of the tester program code. 4.The method of claim 1, further comprising creating a data record by themanager processing unit, wherein the data record comprises data relatedto a test failure detected during execution of the tester program code.5. The method of claim 1, wherein said designation of manager processingunit is determined after the tester program code has been loaded ontothe hardware component under validation.
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein said designation of manager processing unit is predeterminedprior to the loading of the tester program code onto the hardwarecomponent under validation.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the atleast two types of hardware processing units of the hardware componentunder validation are functionally identical.
 8. The method of claim 7,wherein the at least two types of hardware processing units of thehardware component under validation differ in hardware complexity. 9.The method of claim 8, wherein the at least two types of hardwareprocessing units of the hardware component under validation differ inphysical design.
 10. The method of claim 8, wherein the hardwarecomponent under validation employs a “big\LITTLE” system architecture.11. The method of claim 8, wherein the manager processing unit and otherprocessing units of the hardware component under validation employShared Memory Architecture (SMA) and are cache coherent.
 12. Anapparatus incorporated within a hardware component to be validated,wherein the hardware component having a plurality of hardware processingunits each belonging to one of at least two types, such that one of theat least two types of hardware processing units is less error-prone thana remainder of the at least two types, the apparatus comprising: adesignation component for designating as a manager processing unit oneof the hardware processing units of the hardware component undervalidation that belongs to the less error-prone type, wherein the lesserror-prone type is of a more mature design and is more reliable thanthe remainder of the at least two types; and a monitoring component formonitoring by the manager processing unit in a reliable manner thestatus of the hardware processing units during execution of a testerprogram code, the monitoring component comprising a test startercomponent for initiating execution of the tester program code fortesting processing units by hardware processing units of the hardwarecomponent other than the manager processing unit.
 13. The apparatus ofclaim 12, further comprising an initialization component for performing,by the manager processing unit, an initialization procedure prior toexecution of the tester program code.
 14. The apparatus of claim 12,further comprising a data dumping component for creating a data recordby the manager processing unit, wherein the data record comprises datarelated to a test failure detected during execution of the testerprogram code.
 15. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein said designationcomponent further comprises a determination component for determiningthe manager processing unit designation.
 16. A computer program productcomprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium retainingprogram instructions for execution by a hardware component to bevalidated, wherein the hardware component having a plurality of hardwareprocessing units each belonging to one of at least two types, such thatone of the at least two types of hardware processing units is lesserror-prone than a remainder of the at least two types, the productcomprising: a first section of program instructions for designating as amanager processing unit one of the hardware processing units of thehardware component under validation that belongs to the less error-pronetype, wherein the less error-prone type is of a more mature design andis more reliable than the remainder of the at least two types; a secondsection of program instructions for initiating execution, by the managerprocessing unit, of a tester program code for testing processing unitsby hardware processing units of the hardware component other than themanager processing unit; and a third section of program instructions formonitoring by the manager processing unit in a reliable manner thestatus of the hardware processing units during execution of the testerprogram code.
 17. The computer program product of claim 16, furthercomprising an additional section of program instructions for performing,by the manager processing unit, an initialization procedure prior toexecution of the tester program code.
 18. The computer program productof claim 16, further comprising an additional section of programinstructions for creating a data record by the manager processing unit,wherein the data record comprises data related to a test failuredetected during execution of the tester program code.
 19. The computerprogram product of claim 16, wherein said first section of programinstructions further comprises instructions for determining the managerprocessing unit designation.